2002 Grosset Riesling Polish Hill- Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley (2/20/2012)
I’ve just got 3 words to describe this…fab u lous! I’ll add another 52 words after this sentence as 3 words probably doesn’t do the wine justice and my previous 3 aren’t proper words. The nose is a piece of toast liberally slathered with lemon butter. The are notes of citrus blossom and lime as well. The palate is lithe and zippy with great intensity of citrus fruits, excellent volume and super persistence. It is still but a pup but drinking oh so well. I love screwcaps!
Hi Maureen, if you haven’t tried the wine yet, perhaps you can crack a bottle open, afterall its drinking well now still quite primary… And then leave the other another 3-5 years or longer, depending on what you like from a riesling. Otherwise, source more recent vintage such as '08, '09 and '10, to increase your Australian stash
Thanks, Jeremy–nice note! Don’t see these much in this area any more, alas. Howard Cooper, Ken Barr, Chris Bublitz, Maureen Nelson, as devout riesling-heads, you ought to try out some of the SA offerings if you’ve not already done so–very impressive stuff. Some of WA’s Frankland Estate’s rieslings are extremely nice, as well.
Thanks from me, too, Jeremy; I’ve never kept a Grosset longer than five years so it’s great to read that they can be long lived.
Randall, you’re right, these wines don’t seem to be widely distributed; the last I found were at MacArthurs’ but they don’t always stock them. Gotta look next time I’m in there, though.
Absolutely love these wines. Wasn’t introduced to them until the 2006 vintage, so these are the oldest I have. A small allocation comes into WI every year, and I try to get what I can.
These are the toughest wines to keep in the cellar. They are so damn delicious young, it’s hard not to drink them up. It’s taken all my willpower to only drink one, maybe two, per vintage when they are young, and let the rest ride. We’ll see how much remains at 10 years out.
How would you compare this in style to your “typical” example of a German riesling of similar price? Both young and mature?
The few Aussie rieslings I’ve tried have been considerably more austere and acidic than what I would consider the typical German riesling, but I don’t know if I’ve had Grosset or not.
IIRC, the U.S. importer finally let this property go because the wines were such a challenge to sell. It’s sad, because my experience with aged Australian Riesling shows that these wines age easily for 25 years.
It was John Larchet at The Australian Premium Wine Collection - I had to doublecheck notes. He has indeed had let them go along with a number of other producers. I believe 2008 was the last vintage available here, though its possible some 09 made it in before the relationship was severed. According to Grosset’s site, there is no current U.S. distributor.
It makes me sad, as I can get a wash of 4th rate SB from New Zealand, but I cannot get one of the best white wines the New World offers.
How would you compare this in style to your “typical” example of a German riesling of similar price? Both young and mature?
Haven’t had a really old Aussie Clare Riesling, but my experience is they have more backbone (due to higher EtOH?) and are heavy on the lemon/lime/citrus flavors. Clean and minerally. I’d guess they’d age similar to Trimbach’s rieslings.
I finished the last of my '05s recently. I still have a good amount of '07 in the cellar however, but I can never seem to make them last more than a few years.
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